Girl Next Door 1
by Lily
Summary: Darien and Serena lives next to each other. A heated exchange in the middle of the night.


The Girl Next Door : Chapter 1 Rated : G 

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Darien tossed and turned in his bed. The wailing has to stop. That inconsiderate brat is wailing her lungs out for almost half and hour. 

"Oh stupid girl ! Just shut up ! SHUT UP !" Darien had to give the girl a piece of his mind. And he's gonna do it now. 

He slipped into his Nikes and stomped towards No. 7. He rapped impatiently on the door. He could hear footsteps and mumblings before the door swung open. 

A girl in pink nightdress stood there. She hugged a huge bunny and wore bunny slippers. Long golden blond hair trailing behind her ended up in two balls on her head. Sky blue eyes on a tear-stained face. She glared at him. 

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Serena had spent the night going over her weaknesses (which are quite plentiful) and through heartbreaks in senior year at high school and heartaches. Some pastime which is not very nice. 

Some idiot pounding the door startled her. She made her way slowly towards the door, expecting some lost delivery guy. 

Some sight greeted her when she opened the heavy oak door. A tall guy with jet black tousled hair with really angry midnight blue eyes. A crumpled white work shirt paired with dark blue shorts. The latest Nikes. 

If she wasn't so mad at him for disturbing her, she would have said that he was in-fact drop dead cute. 

And then he started to yell at her. 

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Darien was frankly quite not expecting the crybaby to actually be about 19 years old. He was waiting to see a mother carrying her nuisance child and apologising. But now, this not so tall girl or lady standing there staring daggers at him was quite suprising. 

Who could have known an adult like her could make such a racket like a 2 year-old ? And holding a huge stuffed bunny ? Way weird. Maybe she's a single mother... No matter what, this Meatball Head is gonna get it for disturbing his much-needed sleep. 

"What in the world you think you're doing ? Bringing the whole block down ?" he shouted. 

"But..." 

"You make enough noise to wake the dead, and the living dead !" 

"I..." 

"Just shut up, okay ? I need to sleep !!!" 

"didn't..." 

"Let me finish. The whole world doesn't need to know of your little troubles, Meatball Head !" 

"know..." 

"We have troubles of our own, but no one announces them to the world at," Darien glanced at his watch, "At three a.m in the morning !" 

"I'm sorry..." 

"You should be... What are you ? A two year old ?" 

"Ooh...you inconsiderate jerk, whoever you are, people have feelings ! And I've apologised, and you call me a two year old ? And meatball head ?!" Serena shouted. 

"Shout all you want. Inconsiderate indeed. You are the world's most inconsiderate girl !" 

"Hrumph ! Aaah !!!" the girl slammed the door right at his nose. 

'Ooh...that nerve !!!' he thought, seething. Darien almost stomped back into his apartment. Then, he waited. Waited for that stupid girl next door to purposefully began wailing at a louder octave. 

He waited for her to behave like the child she was. But no sound came. Not even the slightest banging of the door. Not even the scraping sound of a chair across the floor. Not even a tantrum. 

"Maybe she isn't as childish as I thought..." Darien muttered to himself. 

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Serena yawned. Another day. She looked out of the window. The sun is rising and so should she. She padded to her bathroom. 

"Oh Gawd !" she exclaimed, staring at the two small semi-circles beneath her eyes. She grabbed some concealer. This is gonna be a long day. 

Serena stepped into the streets of Tokyo. The faithful hands on her watch informed her that it was barely 7:45 a.m. The streets were already bustling with people. 

Businessmen, clerks, salesmen, nurses, doctors, mechanics... almost every profession could be seen here. Serena sighed and walked towards her office. 

The building was of the latest techology. It consists of only steel and could be 'detached' and rebuilded somewhere else. It soars at 60 floors. One of the highest in Tokyo. 

She rode the lift to 27th floor. She walked through two large glass doors that read "StarSpace Productions, HeadQuarters." It was a company where top-notch producers, director, actors and actresses belongs to. It has the best of the best: training, location, script, anything. Serena was one of those top-notch directors/ producers/ script- writers. 

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Darien didn't know whether to laugh or get angry over last night's incident with his neighbour. He had never acted so childishly before. 'And I thought she was..' he thought wryly. 

He went into the bathroom and turned on the hot shower. After drying himself, he peered closely at his reflection in the mirror, suprised at some changes. 

"Oh no !" he groaned when he spotted the purple bags under his eyes. 

"How am I going to go to work ? And that meeting ???" he said to himself, a little worried. 

A lightbulb went on in his head and he grabbed the phone. He dialed a number that was already familiar to him. 

"Yo, Andrew. Is Rita there ?" 

"Hi, Darien. So early ? What's sup ?" asked Andrew. 

"Please get her on.... I need help..." 

"Okay, I'll put her on..." chuckled Andrew, knowing whenever Darien needs Rita's help, it's something worth teasing. 

"Hey, remember she's my girlfriend, ok ?" said Andrew again. 

"Yeah, man..." 

"Hello, Darien... need help ?" Rita said, amused. 

"Yeah... something to do with make-up.." 

"On which part of the body ?" 

"Uh...eyes." 

"Going gay ?" 

"Nah, dark eye rings..." 

"Oh, ok...be there in 10 minutes." Rita hunged up and burst out laughing. It was funny, that guy being worried bout his looks. Sure he's gorgeous. It must be something important. She dragged Andrew. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Her boss personally came to her office that morning to hand her her schedule. Serena was suprised, but she kept quiet, fearing trouble. 

"Serena, I came about the meeting." he said. 

"What meeting ?" 

"God ! Don't tell me you've forgotten the meeting with our other Tokyo branch ?" 

In midst of her quarrel yesterday with her crazy neighbour, yes, she had forgotten about it... until now. At least it wasn't too late. 

"Nah, did not." she smiled at Mr. Trumper, her boss. 

"Good, came to remind you that the limo is going to be ready and I'm waiting at 2pm. Ok ?" 

"Yes, sir !" she grinned, mock saluting. "Knew I could count on you. You're one of the best around here. And at your age, girl, you would work wonders when you have even more experience..." Mr. Trumper said gravely before closing the door behind him. 

Benjamin Trumper was a grandfatherly man in his late fifties. He has snow white hair and was proud of it. Any new staff or intern would instantly feel at ease with this soft-spoken giant which towers at 6'5. He had made his own way to the top and was running his company differently from his rivals. 

He would constantly check on his younger staff not to flirt with them or make a pass, but to make them feel at home, make them understand this line of business and encouraging them. The other 'seniors' in the company have followed his way, so they are like a big family. And that includes all the 15 branches they have around Japan. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Darien knew it was going to be a long day at work for him. It wasn't a plus that he's beginning to feel sleepy. 

As soon as he stepped into his office, he locked the door and looked at the couch lovingly. "Hi couchy, I'm gonna need you for for now..." He tried to catch 40 winks before the big meeting looming at 3p.m 

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Serena was nervous all the way to the Encarta Golf and Resort Club. The big meeting was going to be held there about an upcoming blockbuster (predicted) film. She was nervous because at the meeting, two directors, producers and all will be elected. 

And the film is gonna be worldwide so this was the big break she needed. The journey took them 30 minutes. So, they still have half-an-hour to spare... 

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So what cha think ? Comments wanted and needed. Please and thank you. 

Lily Email or ICQ me.... stardazed7@hotmail.com 19112563 


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